Artificial eye



S. MARCUS ET AL ARTIFICIAL EYE Dec. 3, 1929.

Filed Dec. 1, 1927 INVENTORS SamltdfifiarcM le/mnderlifonofi' lltl til

Patented Dec. 3, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SAMUEL MARCUS, OFRIVERDALE, AND ALEXANDER KONOFF, OF NEW YORK, N. Y-,

ASSIGIIOBS no MARKON MANUFACTURING co. INC., or

PORATION or rmw YORK NEW YORK, N, Y., A COR- .ARTIIICIAL EYE Applicationfiled December 1, 1927. Serial No. 236,994.

This invention relates to an improvement in artificial eyes, and anobject of the invention is to provide an artificial eye which isparticularly adapted for use in toy figures and the like, such as dolls.

A further object is to so construct the eye that it will have a highlynatural and humanlilre appearance.

A further object is to sodesign the eye that it is strong andsubstantial and so that it may be readily manufactured with uniformefiiciency and at small cost.

Other objects and aims of the invention, more or less specific thanthose referred to above, will be in part obvious and in part pointed outin the course of the following description of the elements,combinations, arrangements of parts and applications of principlesconstituting the invention; and the t scope of protection contemplatedwill be indicated in the appended claim.

in the accompanying drawings which are to be talren as apart of thisspecification, and in which we have shown merely a preferred form ofembodiment of the invention Fig. 1 is a perspective view of anartificial eye of the type with which this invention is concerned.

l ig. Q is an enlarged fragmentary central sectlional view through theeye seen in Fig. 1, an

Fig. 3 is a similarly enlarged view showing a modified construction ofthe eye.

Referring to the drawings for describing in detail the structuresillustrated therein, and referring first to the structure Figs. 1 and 2,the reference character L indicates the main body or shell of the eye.This shell is of a general semispherical form, usually, thoughnot-necessarily, open at its rear side. rlt its forward side thereappears the representation of a pupil as G and an iris as H.

In this instance the shell L is formed of a transparent materialthroughout, being preferably, though not necessarily, of glass sinceglass provides a highly polished outer surface which improves thenaturalness of appearance of the eye.

The iris is produced by forming the inner of which the shell is formed.The .front surface of the portion 1 is also convexed as at a 2 beingusually in the same spherical plane with the outer surface of theremainder of the shell so that the portion 1 constitutes aconvexo-convex lens.

, Centrally of the portion 1 its inner surface is formed with a circularcavity as 3 said cavity being either painted with black paint on itswall surfaces or filled with a black wax or other filling material as 4,and corresponding in size with the desired size for the pupil G.

Upon the rear surface of the portion 1 there is applied a coating ofpaint or other material as 5 of a color or colors so that when viewedthrough the portion or lens 1 it will present a desirable andlife-like-representation of the human iris.

The remainder of the inner surface of the shell L is likewise coatedwith'paint or the like as 6 of a proper color or colors to repre sentthe white of the eye.

By forming the iris of a conveXo-convex shape not only is a considerabledepth obtained for the iris picture but the magnification of the pupiland paint colors on the inner side thereof greatly improves thenaturalness of appearance.

In the structure Fig. 3 the main body or shell L is of substantiallyuniform thickness across the region of the iris but .the sameconveXo-convex lens effect is secured by providing a separately formedlens member as 7 interiorly of the shell. The inner surface of this lensmember, and the surrounding inner surface of the shell L may be providedwith paint as 56 to the same effect as before.

Any appropriate means may be employed for retaining the lens member 7 inposition, either by means of a transparent adhesive as 8 or by means ofa separately formed inner shell 9 arranged as a supporting liner for theshell L and lens 7.

The liner 9 may be of any appropriate material but may convenientlyconsist of thin sheet metal pressed into shape corresponding to thecontour of the inner surface of the shell L and lens 7.

If desired the paint 56 may instead of being carried by the shell L andlens 7 be carried directly upon the outer surface of the liner shell 9.

The paint 6 may if desired be of a type to constitute an adhesive forbinding the shells L and 9 together, or any other means may be employedfor this purpose.

The pupil-forming cavity 3 may be the same i'nthis case as shown in Fig.2 but if desired it may extend entirely through the lens 7 asillustrated.

A supporting liner shell as 9 could obviously be employed in thestructure Fig. 1 if desired either for simply re-inforcing the zhelll Lor-for carrying the paint 56, or

If desired the main shell 9 may be formed of solid white material, suchas celluloid or the like, and in some instances this material may 4 beactually manufactured with such linings and colors as may be desirableto represent the iris, the pupil and the white of the eye, in which casethe iris will be visible through the lens whereas the white will becovered only by the outer shell L.

It will of course be understood that while that portion of the eyeoutside of the iris as herein shown and referred to as being the whiteof the eye, obviously this portion may be colored in its upper part, orelsewhere, as may be'desired for instance to represent an eyelid, itbeing a common expedient to make the upper half of an artificial eyeballof flesh color so as to represent an eyelid in proper position withrespect to the iris.

It will be apparent from this disclosure that the paint or othermaterial 5 painted, printed, or otherwise applied in similarity of thelinings and color of a human iris will be visible from without throughan efiicient lens, and thus the colors and linings of these featureswill be made more brilliant and be given an appearance of great depth inclose similarity to the human eye, and that withal the structure may beeasily and cheaply manufactured in durable and practical form.

As many changes could be made in this construction without departingfrom the scope of the invention as defined in the following claim, it isintended that all matter contained in the above description, or shown inthe accompanying drawings, shall be interpreted as illustrative only andnot in a limiting sense.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure byLetters Patent is An artificial eye comprising a lens memberhavingan opening centrally thereof extending entirely through the lens,a separately formed semispherical shell of transparent material withinwhich the lens member is artures.

SAMUEL MARCUS. ALEXANDER KONOFF.

